Posts Tagged ‘unimpeded lawful commerce’

China has deployed anti-ship cruise missiles on a disputed South China Sea island and the missiles are raising new concerns in the Pentagon over Beijing’s growing militarization of the vital strategic waterway.

Defense officials confirmed that China’s military recently test-fired a YJ-62 anti-ship cruise missile from Woody Island, in the Paracels located in the northern part of the South China Sea.

At the Pentagon, spokesman Peter Cook declined to confirm the cruise missile deployment but said reports of the test firing has increased worries about Chinese military activities.

“I can’t get into intelligence matters from here,” Cook said of the cruise deployments.

“But obviously, as we have been talking about for some time, anything, any steps by any of the players in that part of the world, China or otherwise, to militarize those features that are in dispute, those islands in dispute, would be a concern to us,” he told reporters at the Pentagon.

President Obama and Southeast Asian leaders during the recent summit meeting in California voiced support for freedom of navigation and overflight and “unimpeded lawful commerce, as well as non- militarization and self-restraint in the conduct of activities in that part of the world,” Cook said.

“This is something that we’ve stressed repeatedly with the Chinese, particularly the question militarization,” he added. “And it is a concern for us, and something clearly at the top of our agenda as we engage with the Chinese.”

Cook said militarization is raising tensions and decreasing stability in a waterway the Pentagon has said hosts $5.3 trillion in annual trade, including $1.2 trillion in U.S. trade.

A test-firing of the cruise missile on Woody Island was disclosed March 21 on a Chinese military enthusiasts’ website called Dingsheng.

The posting included a photo of a YJ-62 being launched from a missile encampment on Woody Island, which China calls Yongxing Island.

The posting stated that the missile was fired by a People’s Liberation Army South Sea Fleet shore-based missile unit. It also included an aerial photo of the island with diagrams showing the launch location.

The deployment of Chinese anti-ship missiles on Woody Island follows reports last month that China has deployed advanced air defense missiles on Woody Island and represents a further militarization of disputed islands in the sea.

The HQ-9 surface-to-air missiles were photographed in commercial satellite imagery along the beach on Woody Island.

Rick Fisher, an expert on the Chinese military, said the YJ-62 is a land-based version of the missile deployed on China’s Type 052C guided missile destroyers, ships that are known to be equipped with advanced electronics similar to U.S. Aegis battle-management equipped warships.

“It is likely that the PLA Navy deployed the YJ-62 to Woody Island at about the same time that HQ-9 anti-aircraft missile were seen on the island, perhaps some time in 2015,” Fisher said.

The deployment of the anti-ship missiles, with a range of 248.5 miles, “now completes a template for the three new bases in the Spratly Island group,” Fisher said.

Type 052D Luyang II Guided Missile Destroyer

“They too will soon be equipped with combat aircraft, anti-aircraft missiles, and long range anti-ship missiles,” he said. “These islands will also eventually be linked by underwater, surface and airborne surveillance sensors creating a ‘fence’ to keep out U.S. and allied military forces.”

Fisher said that at the current rate of militarization in the sea, China could deploy the equivalent of a new navy fleet by 2020.

“The Obama administration has some good ideas about organizing greater maritime security cooperation and developing some new weapon systems to deter China, but it has also been too slow to recognize and is simply not moving fast enough to meet an accelerating Chinese challenge,” Fisher said.

“America is now falling behind in a vital arms race with China and this points to real danger,” he added. “China usually attacks when its opponents are weak and distracted.”

U.S. intelligence officials have stated that China was expected to increase the militarization of the disputed islands in the sea in response to the resumption of U.S. Navy freedom of navigation operations after a hiatus of nearly five years.

Navy warships passed within 12 nautical miles of Chinese-claimed islands in October and January, and further operations are expected.

The cruise missile deployments also contradict statements by Chinese President Xi Jinping made during a summit with President Obama in September.

At the meeting, Xi, who arrives in Washington this week for a nuclear security summit, pledged not to militarize the newly created South China Sea islands.

The Pentagon has said China in recent months has produced some 3,200 acres of land by dredging the sea floor and building up new islands.

Reiterating its stance on the status quo in the South China Sea, U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said that the U.S. will not tolerate any attempts to change the situation in that region.

“The United States stands firmly against any coercive attempts to alter the status quo,” said the U.S. defense secretary at the Asia Security Summit in Singapore on Saturday.

The defense secretary was apparently referring to China’s recent assertiveness over the Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, which is administered Japan, and the islands claimed by several South Asian countries including Taiwan in the South China Sea.

“In the South China Sea, the United States continues to call on all claimants to exercise restraint as they publicly pledged in 2002, and to seek peaceful means to resolve these incidents,” said Chuck Hagel.

The U.S. defense secretary urged all the defense ministers and officials at the summit to solve the disputes “in a manner that maintains peace and security, adheres to international law, and protects unimpeded lawful commerce, as well as freedom of navigation and over flight.”

However, Chuck Hagel made it clear that the U.S. does not take any particular position on sovereignty over the Senkakus or in the South China Sea.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Barack Obama are scheduled to meet next week and the two leaders are likely to discuss a range of topics including cyber security and military issues.

While addressing the ministers and officials from different countries, Chuck Hagel also touched topics like the recent nuclear missile tests by North Korea.

“The United States will not stand by while North Korea seeks to develop a nuclear-armed missile that can target the United States,” said Chuck Hagel.

Calling North Korea’s recent actions as dangerous and a threat to its neighboring countries, the defense secretary said, “No country should conduct ‘business as usual’ with a North Korea that threatens its neighbors.”

The U.S. defense secretary warned Saturday the United States opposes any forced change in the situations surrounding the Japanese-administered Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea and islands claimed by some Southeast Asian countries and Taiwan in the South China Sea.

“The United States stands firmly against any coercive attempts to alter the status quo,” Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said in a speech at the Asia Security Summit in Singapore, an apparent reference to China’s recent assertiveness over the Senkakus and disputed islands in the South China Sea such as the Spratlys.

Commenting on the tensions over the Senkakus, Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera said the ministers shared the view that it is important to address the issue “through dialogue in accordance with law, not by force.”

Hagel and Onodera had discussed the Senkaku Islands dispute earlier on Saturday with Australian Defense Minister Stephen Smith.

The U.S. defense secretary also expressed concern about cybersecurity, saying the Chinese government and military are apparently linked to a growing threat of cyber-intrusions and urging Beijing to cooperate with Washington to tackle this problem.

He further suggested the establishment of “international norms of responsible behavior in cyberspace” in partnership with China and other countries.

Hagel made the calls ahead of a June 7-8 summit between U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping in California that will be their first meeting since Xi became head of state in March.

The annual Singapore forum, which opened Friday evening for a three-day run, brings together defense ministers and officials mainly from the Asia-Pacific.

Participants are watching what Chinese delegation head Lt. Gen. Qi Jianguo, deputy chief of the General Staff of the People’s Liberation Army, will say about the U.S. “rebalance” toward Asia, about North Korea and about Beijing’s territorial claims in the East and South China seas.

China is cautious about Washington’s strategic re-engagement with the Asia-Pacific region after a decade of war in Iraq and Afghanistan, suspecting it could be a U.S. attempt to contain a rising, assertive China.

Speaking later, Japanese Defense Minister Onodera said his country “welcomes” and “supports” U.S. rebalance toward Asia to ensure regional stability, and that Tokyo will maintain the status quo in the Senkaku Islands, which it has managed for decades.

Using its growing influence, China wants to address issues involving the Senkakus, which it calls Diaoyu, and the South China Sea bilaterally with relevant countries without involvement from the United States or other outside forces.

The United States takes no particular position on sovereignty over the Senkakus or in the South China Sea, but it strongly believes incidents and disputes should be settled “in a manner that maintains peace and security, adheres to international law, and protects unimpeded lawful commerce, as well as freedom of navigation and overflight,” Hagel said.

“In the South China Sea, the United States continues to call on all claimants to exercise restraint as they publicly pledged in 2002, and to seek peaceful means to resolve these incidents,” he said.

The Pentagon chief said he is inviting defense ministers from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations to Hawaii next year for what will be the first U.S.-hosted meeting of ASEAN defense chiefs to discuss “a shared vision for a dynamic, peaceful and secure future for the region.”

In a meeting later with Philippine defense chief Voltaire Gazmin, Hagel said the United States is seeking a greater visibility in the country.

“He talked about increased rotational presence in the Philippines. We’re working on that, see how this can be worked out, trying to operationalize the increased rotational presence with high-value, high-impact exercises in the Philippines,” Gazmin said after the meeting.

Since the removal of U.S. military forces based in the Philippines in 1991 and 1992, the U.S. military’s presence has been limited to short-term visits and rotations under a Visiting Forces Agreement reached in 1998.

Earlier, in his address to the summit, Hagel said, “The United States will not stand by while North Korea seeks to develop a nuclear-armed missile that can target the United States.”

And he vowed to “significantly bolster” missile defense throughout the Pacific to protect the United States and its allies from North Korea’s “dangerous provocations.”

“No country should conduct ‘business as usual’ with a North Korea that threatens its neighbors,” he said.

The United States on Friday criticized China’s establishment of a new military garrison in the South China Sea as it called on all sides to lower tensions in the hotly contested waters.

China announced last week that it was establishing the tiny city of Sansha and a garrison on an island in the disputed Paracel chain, infuriating Vietnam and the Philippines, which have accused Beijing of intimidation.

Above: This aerial view of the city of Sansha on an island in the disputed Paracel chain, which China now considers part of Hainan province in July 2012. The United States criticized China’s establishment of a new military garrison in the South China Sea as it called on all sides to lower tensions in the hotly contested waters

“We are concerned by the increase in tensions in the South China Sea and are monitoring the situation closely,” US State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell said in a statement.

“In particular, China’s upgrading of the administrative level of Sansha city and establishment of a new military garrison there covering disputed areas of the South China Sea run counter to collaborative diplomatic efforts to resolve differences and risk further escalating tensions in the region,” he said.

Ventrell also pointed to “confrontational rhetoric” and incidents at sea, saying: “The United States urges all parties to take steps to lower tensions.”

China says it controls much of the South China Sea, but Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan, the Philippines and Vietnam all claim portions. Vietnam and the Philippines have accused China of stepping up harassment at sea.

The United States has rallied behind Southeast Asian nations, expanding military ties with the Philippines and Vietnam, as Washington looks to expand its influence in a region where China is increasingly assertive.

During a 2010 visit to Vietnam, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton declared that the United States had a national interest in freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, through which half of world cargo passes.

Ventrell reiterated that the United States has an interest in stability and “unimpeded lawful commerce” in the South China Sea but that Washington does not take a position on rival claims.

China also has separate disputes with US ally Japan in the East China Sea. Japanese Defense Minister Satoshi Morimoto held talks in Washington on Friday.

US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, addressing a joint news conference with Morimoto, praised the Association of Southeast Asian Nations for working on a code of conduct for the South China Sea and called for further progress.

“The last thing we want is to have direct confrontation in the South China Sea with regards to jurisdictional issues,” Panetta said.

“Those should be resolved peacefully, and they should be resolved pursuant to a code of conduct. And the United States will do whatever we can to work with Japan and others to ensure that that is the approach we take,” he said.

Deep disputes last month prevented Southeast Asian nations from issuing a customary annual joint communique at talks in Cambodia, holding up progress on reaching a code of conduct with China.

The code of conduct would aim to set rules to reduce the chances of a spat over fishing, shipping rights or oil and gas exploration tipping into an armed conflict.